One of those original four partners was Michael Pierce, who went from iNet founding partner to Odney Chief Digital Officer in one long drive. A “hole-in-one,” you might say.
But this isn’t about him. This is about Dean Glatt.
Dean took a longer path to Odney with a few more career swings in between — but who’s counting? The fact is that he’s here, and he has gained a big bag of knowledge along the way. (Yes, there is a reason for the endless golf metaphors. We’ll come back to that.)
With an extensive background in the hardware computing side of IT, Dean is a pro at computer operating systems, storage, networks, email systems, desktop systems and internet connectivity.
“I’ve done some programming but always came back to hardware,” he says.
Through his impressive career, Dean has managed teams of people that have moved critical workloads to cloud environments. He has sat on advisory boards for HP and SoftwareAG, so he understands IT from both the provider’s and the consumer’s perspectives.
What makes Dean so valuable to Odney is his deep understanding of computing technology across the board. He remembers a BASF commercial that said, “We don't make the products you buy; we make the products you buy better.” That is what he does here, applying knowledge of how technology was designed to be used so that we can get the most out of it for our clients.
One key part of his job has been the ongoing work of moving Odney onto cloud computing environments for improved storage, backup and collaboration among personnel. Finding inspiration from coworkers and former colleagues alike, Dean is driven to excel at these new IT tools so he can read the lie of the situation and pull the right IT club out of the bag.
Having finally returned to our golf metaphor as promised, it turns out Dean has a real knack for getting a hole-in-one on the golf course. Though he says it’s really just luck, he seems to be on a streak. After 28 years of play, he got his first one in 2017. Then in 2023, he sunk three of them in a single season — all witnessed, all official.
Being a goal-oriented fellow, Dean is 42% of the way toward his dream of playing all 50 states, and 75% of the way toward attending all of golf’s major tournaments.
Still, he simply golfs to relax and spend time with his wife and friends. It’s one of his favorite ways to enjoy life, along with listening to all genres of music through a quality sound system and always maintaining a great sense of humor. (Ask about his IT background, for example, and he says he uses the default Windows desktop background.)
“I most certainly like working with the people of Odney and I sincerely mean that,” Dean says. “They care about what they do and have pride in the work they produce. There is a positive energy that I draw from that.”